How confident is Johnnie Hall in the City of Niles’ water?
“I’ll go out to any hydrant in the city and drink water out of it,” said Hall, the city’s water superintendent.
That statement is now backed by hardware.
The city won a statewide water taste-off at the annual Michigan Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Conference earlier this month, winning a trophy that appropriately features a water glass and faucet head.
After winning a regional competition earlier this year, Niles faced the City of Ann Arbor, Mancelona Area Water and the Marion, Howell, Osceola, Genoa Water and Sewer Authority for the state award.
Water from each of the departments was scored by a panel of judges based on taste and appearance. This is the first time the city has won the award, joining Edwardsburg, which won in 2007.
Hall credits the 2005 improvements to the water distribution system, which included the construction of a water tower in the Bertrand Crossing Industrial Park and the addition of an iron filtration plant to treat water from the city’s highest producing wells. It was a $5.8 million project.
“Water complaints went down a lot,” Hall said. “We had customers say, ‘this is the best water I’ve had since living here.’”
Hall said the water doesn’t taste as metallic since adding the filtration plant, which treats 2.5 million gallons of water a day. The city also samples the water 15 times a month for bacteria.
“We all take pride in producing the best-tasting and safest water that we can,” Hall said.
Niles advances to the national competition in June.